Jai Ho You Are My Destiny
by Meredith Trainor
Summary: The Avatar has defeated the Fire Lord Phoenix King, and it seems like the world will fall at his feet.  Katara's feeling conflicted; is it her duty, even her destiny, to marry someone she doesn't love?  Oneshot, Zutara


Jai Ho: My Destiny

Summary: The Avatar has defeated the Fire Lord Phoenix King, and it seems like the world will fall at his feet. Katara's feeling conflicted; is it her duty, even her destiny, to marry someone she doesn't love?

Author's Note: This isn't really a songfic, but it was inspired by the song "Jai Ho (You Are My Destiny)" by A.R. Rahman. It's a great song, and it fits so well with the ATLA cast!

Katara was speechless.

She should have seen this coming. The Waterbender prided herself on her intuition, and yet Aang's proposal had thrown her for a loop.

Sure, the rest of the Gaang had known; how had she missed the signs?

Aang was a sweetheart, and so brave, and he had saved the freakin' world for crying out loud. Surely he deserved any girl he wanted…

She should marry him. She should say yes. Some might even call it her patriotic duty.

And then she looked over Aang's shoulder, at the new Fire Lord leaning over their campfire. His back was turned away, but he stayed completely motionless, and she couldn't help wishing Aang had chosen a more private place to ask for her hand.

Then again, who would have thought she'd say anything other than "yes"?

Nearly a minute had passed now, and she saw sweat forming on the young Airbender's brow. She wanted to cry. It would be so easy to say yes, to betray her own feelings and give the Avatar what he wanted. But even if Zuko didn't give her the time of day, she couldn't imagine marrying Aang!

"Aang," she whispered, taking her hand from his, "I can't." She turned and ran away from the campsite. Aang crumpled to the ground, defeated.

Minutes later, Katara knelt beside a creek, tears streaking down her face. She was always comforted by the sound of running water. This time was no exception, and try as she might to keep crying out of guilt (after all, didn't she deserve to cry? Wasn't she betraying her country? She had a lot to be sorry for), her breathing soon returned to normal.

"Glad you stopped crying," said a voice behind her. A familiar voice.

"Listen," Zuko said, "You don't owe Aang your life. It's just not your destiny to marry him." For some reason, his casual manner, the way he flung about those words, angered her.

"Oh yeah? What would _you_ know about my destiny?" she shouted, veering about to face him head-on.

"It isn't right that you should marry Aang," Zuko continued in a slow, steady voice. "It would be a lie, and he deserves someone who can love him freely, without guilt."

"Wow," she remarked sarcastically, "You really have me pegged, don't you?" Suddenly, her stomach turned.

"Zuko?" she asked carefully.

"Yeah?"

"Do you … only, do you think anyone will ever love Aang? Not as a brother, but in a romantic way?"

The young Fire Lord smiled, his scarred face made beautiful by the light in his eyes. "Someone already does." He stepped toward her. "So don't feel guilty, okay? I've already pretty much worked out who Aang marries, and you'd be impeding her destiny if you'd lied to him." He chuckled. "And trust me, you do _not_ want to stand in her way."

Although her curiosity was peaking, Katara pretended not to care.

"You're dying to know who she is, and how I know, aren't you?"

She shrugged. "Maybe."

"Well, I'm sorry, Katara, but I won't betray her trust anytime soon. To be honest, I was a little amazed she even confided in me, and I don't think I'd live to see my own destiny if word leaked out." He actually put his hand to his neck. "But I didn't tell you these things in idle gossip; I told you so you'd stop beating yourself up and come back to camp. It's getting late, and I'll bet the others are preparing dinner." She breathed a sigh and took his extended hand.

"How did you know where to find me? Were you watching me the whole time?"

"Let's just say I knew you wouldn't stick around after you'd turned him down."

"And how did you know I'd turn him down?"

"I didn't, for certain," he admitted. But as he quickened his pace, she barely heard him add, "All I could do was pray you would."

Her face flushed. "Why would you pray for that?"

He rolled his eyes. "Don't play stupid, Katara. You know I've had a soft spot for you for a long time. Or did you choose to ignore it?" They were almost to the campsite.

"I tried… I thought it was my duty to marry Aang!" she tried to explain.

"You need to stop being so hard on yourself," he said, shaking his head. "I told you, it's somebody else's destiny to marry Aang. You'd only be delaying them." He squeezed her hand before dropping it. "I'll give you some time to think about it."

"What's there to think about?" she tried to hold his hand again, but he pulled away.

"I'm not going to start dating you moments after you dumped the Avatar," he reminded her. "I've got to give him time to get the ball rolling with –" Just as he said this, they came upon the most unlikely pair – at first Katara thought Toph had Aang locked in a headlock, but as they tore apart, she realized they'd been _embracing_.

"There you two are!" Toph exclaimed. "We were starting to get worried!"

"Didn't look like it," Zuko snickered. "Aang, you certainly didn't waste any time, did you?" The Avatar blushed bright red, so Toph answered for him.

"He's remarkably resilient. I think defeating the Phoenix King and saving the world actually made Aang into a man!" she announced, clapping him on the shoulder. "Anyway, Sugar Queen, did you really think he'd go hang himself because you'd said no?"

"I don't know what to think anymore," said Katara, still in a bit of a daze.

"So," Zuko said factually, looking at Toph. "You and Aang, Sokka and Suki, and me and Katara… What a strange world this is."

"Isn't it, though?" Toph laughed. "Oh, that reminds me – Sokka still doesn't know! He hasn't come back yet; for all he knows, Aang's wallowing in misery. This'll be a riot!"

"Why does everyone assume I'm such a weakling that I'd never recover from being dumped?" Aang pouted.

"'Cause Twinkletoes, you're such a little gentleman that nobody would guess you're a player underneath!" They all had a good laugh at this.


End file.
